I was born in a secluded village of a mountain. Days by days my parents
ploughed the yellow dry soil with their backs facing the sky. I have a younger
brother, 3 years younger than me. Once, to buy a handkerchief which all girls
around me seemed to have, I stole 50 cents from my father's

drawer. Father knew about it right away. He made my younger brother and me
kneeled
against the wall, with a bamboo stick in his hand.

"Who stole the money?" he asked. I was stunned, too afraid to talk.

Father didn't hear any of us admit, so he said, "Fine, if nobody wants to admit,
you two should be beaten!"

He lifted up the bamboo stick. Suddenly, my younger brother gripped father's
hand and said," Dad, I was the one who did it!" The long stick smacked on my
brother's back repeatedly.

Father was so angry that he kept on whipping my brother until he lost his
breath. After that, he sat down on our stone bed and scolded my brother,

"You have learnt to steal from your own house now, what other embarrassing
things you will do in the future?? You should be beaten to death! You a
shameless thief!"

That night, mother and I hugged my brother. His body full of injuries, but he
didn't shed a single tear. In the middle of the night, all of sudden I cried out
loudly.

I still hate myself for not having enough courage to admit what I had done.
Years gone by, but the incident still seemed like it just happened yesterday. I
will never forget my brother's expression when he protected me.That year, my
brother was 8 years old; I was 11 years old.

When my brother was in his last year of his lower secondary school, he was
accepted in an upper secondary school in the central. At the same time, I was
accepted into a province's university. That night, father squatted in the yard,
smoking, packet by packet. I could hear him say, "Both our children have good
results? very good results?" Mother wiped off her tears and sighed,"

What is the use? How can we possibly finance both of them?"At that time, my
brother walked out, he stood in front of father and said, "Dad, I don't want to
continue my study anymore, I have read enough books." Father swung his hand and
slapped brother on his face. "Why do you have a spirit so damn weak? Even if it
means that I have to beg for money on the streets, I will send you two to school
until you both finish your study!" And then, he started to knock on every house
in the village to borrow money.

I stuck out my hand as soft as I can to my brother's swollen face, and said, "A
boy has to continue his study; If not, he will not be able to leave this depths
of poverty." Me, on the other hand, had decided not to further my study to
university.

Who knows on the next day, before dawn, my brother left the house with a few
pieces of worn-out clothes and a few dry beans. He sneaked to the side of my bed
and left a note on my pillow; "Sis, get into an university is not easy. I will
go find a job and send money to you."

I held the note while sitting on my bed, and cried until I lost my voice.

That year, my brother was 17 years old; I was 20 years old. With the money
father borrowed from the whole village, and money my brother earned from
carrying cement on his back at construction site, finally, I managed to get to
the third year of my study in the university.

One day, I was studying in my room, when my roommate came in and told
me,"There's a villager wait for you outside!" Why was there a villager looking
for me? I walked out, and saw my brother from afar, His whole body was dirty,
covered by dust, cement and sands. I asked him, "Why don't you tell my roommate
that you are my brother?"

He replied with a smile," Look at my appearance. What will they think if they
know that I am your brother? Don't they laugh at you?" I felt so touched, and
tears filled my eyes. I swept away dusts from my brother's body. And said with a
lump in my throat, " I don't care of what people say! You are my brother no
matter what your appearance is?"

From his pocket, he took out a butterfly hair clip. He wore it on me, and said,
"I saw all the girls in town are wearing it. So, I think you should also have
one." I could not hold back myself anymore. I pulled my brother into my arms and
cried and cried. That year, my brother was 20 years old; I was 23 years old.

The first time I brought my boyfriend home, the broken window had been
repaired. And it looked so clean inside the house. After, my boyfriend went
home, I danced like a small girl in front of my mother, "Mom, you don't have to
spend so much time cleaning the house!" But she said with a smile," It was your
brother who went home early to clean the house. Didn't you see the wound on his
hand? He was injured while replacing the window."

I went into my brother's small bedroom. Looking at his thin face, I felt like
there are hundreds of needle pricked in my heart. I put some ointment on his
wound and bandaged it, "Does it hurt?" I asked him. "No, it doesn't hurt. You
know, when I was working in the construction site, stones falling on my feet all
the time. Even that could not stop me from working?"

In the middle of the sentence, he stopped. I turned my back on him and tears
rolling down my face. That year, my brother was 23 years old; I was 26 years
old. After I got married, I lived in the city. Very often, my husband invited my
parents to come and live with us, but they didn't want. They said, once theyleft
the village, they didn't know what to do. My brother also didn't agree, he said,
"Sis, you just take care of your parents-in-law. I will take care of mum and dad
here."

My husband became the director of his factory. We wanted my brother to get the
job as the manager in the department of maintenance. But, my brother rejected
the offer. He insisted on starting to work as a repair worker.

One day, my brother was on the top of a ladder repairing a cable, when he got
electrocuted, and was sent to the hospital. My husband and I visited him. Looked
at the white gypsum on his leg, I grumbled, "Why did you reject to be a manager?
Manager will not do something dangerous like this.

Look at you now, such a serious injury. Why you didn't want to listen to us?"
With a serious expression on his face, he defended on his decision, "Think of
brother-in-law? He just became the director, and I almost
uneducated. If I became the manager, what kind of rumours will fly around?" My
husband's eyes filled up with tears, and then I said, "But you lack in education
also because of me!" "Why talking about the past?" My brother held my hand. That
year, he was 26 years old and I was 29 years old.

My brother was 30 years old when he married a farm girl from the village. In his
wedding reception, the master of ceremonies asked him, "Who is the one you
respect and love the most?"

Without thinking, he answered," My sister." He continued by telling a story I
could not even remember. "When I was in primary school, the school was in
different village. Everyday, my sister and I walked for 2 hours to go school and
go home. One day, I lost one of my pair of gloves. My sister gave me one of
hers. She only wore one glove and walked for so far. When we got home, her hand
was so trembled because of the weather that was so cold that she could not even
hold her chopsticks. From that day on, I swore that as long as I live, I would
take care of my sister and be good to her."

Applause filled up the room. All guests turned their attentions to me. Words
were so hard to come out from my mouth, "In my whole life, the one I would like
to thank the most is my brother," And in this happy occasion, in front of the
crowd, tears rolled down my face again. Love and care for the one you love every
single day of your life. You may think that what you did is just a small deed,
but to that someone, it means a lot.

Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want; it is the realization of
what you already have.